Rio Dell to Begin Groundbreaking on Well Project

The City of Rio Dell will be holding a groundbreaking ceremony for the Metropolitan Wells Project. The event will occur at 12:00 noon on Thursday, November 17, 2016. The location of the event will be at City Hall, 675 Wildwood Avenue in Rio Dell, CA. There will be refreshments, short remarks and the traditional groundbreaking ceremony with opportunities for photos. Another press release will follow the event.

The Metropolitan Wells Project is a water source diversification project that will better serve the residents of Rio Dell through emergency drought relief and improved water system resilience. Conceptualization of the project began in August of 2014 during a period of record low flows in the Eel River – the current source of the City’s water supply. While drought conditions have somewhat improved, the reality is that future droughts will likely have an even greater impact on the river at the same time human use increases. The Metropolitan Wells Project seeks to address these issues by utilizing groundwater as a backup.

The project is funded by generous grants from both the State and Federal Government’s via State Proposition 84 (2006) and Proposition 1 (2014) that both set aside funding for water supply projects. The Federal Government stepped up to provide funding through the United States Department of Agriculture’s Office of Rural Development. Altogether, grant funding for the project covers 97% of the total projected costs ($1,879,076), saving Rio Dell ratepayers tremendous amounts of money for added water supply security.

4 comments

Investment in infrastructure rarely results in a rate decrease. Unfortunately, we all have to pay to play. Since it’s underwritten by out of area tax dollars it might be a good time to bring up the likelihood that government spending will decrease in the future. By how much and where is yet to be determined. We should all be aware of this. Ignorance after the cuts will get us nowhere.

I’m curious to know why Rio dell is drilling wells when they put wells and a spring up for auction a few summers back…the spring had access issues because the neighbors were disgruntled with the city, but civil court would clear that up soon enough since water trumps ego. I don’t know if any of the water sources actually sold. That was the summer before Rio dell was restricted from using its river water right by the water board….